Machine for drilling and/or filling brush stocks



March 7, 67. R. H. R. PARKER 1 3,307,881

7 MACHINE FOR DRILLING AND/OR FILLING BRUSH STOCKS Filed Jan. 15, 1964 3Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. F. H. R Parker ATTORNEY Mamh 19.67 R. H. R.PARKER 7,

MACHINE-FOR DRILLING AND/OR 'FILLING snusa s'rocKs' Filed Jan. 13, 1964s Sheets-Sheet 2 RH R Par/rel" AT RNEY Match 7, 1 967 g R. H. IR. PARKERI 3,307,881

MACHINE FOR DRILLING AND/OR FILLING BRUSH STOCKS Filed Jan; 15, 1964 5Sheets-Sheet s l NV EN'roR ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,307,881MACHINE FOR DRILLING AND/0R FILLING BRUSH STOCKS Russell Henry RichardParker, Portchester, England, assiguor to J. Evans & Son (Portsmouth)Limited, Portsmouth, England, a British company Filed Jan. 13, 1964,Ser. No. 337,306 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Jan. 28,1963,

6 Claims. (Cl. 300-3) This invention relates to apparatus for drillingand/or filling brush stocks.

To enable the desired pattern of holes to be drilled and filled in abrush stock, it is the usual practice to support the brush stock on apivotally mounted workholder which is given a predetermined angularmovement to position the brush stock in the desired series of angularlyrelated positions relative to the drilling and filling devices of abrush making machine.

With the increasing complexity of brush types and filling arrangementsnow required, conditions sometimes arise when the angular movementsrequire-d to be imparted to the brush stocks are beyond the practicalcapacity of the standard workholder arrangements.

According to the present invention, apparatus for drilling or fillingbrush stocks comprises one or more workholders for supporting brushstocks to be drilled or filled and one or more tools for effecting thedrilling or filling operation, the tool or tools being mounted forpivotal movement relative to the workholder or workholders to enable thedesired angular relation between the workholder or workholders and toolor tools to be produced for. effecting end spread drilling or filling.

The workholder or workholders is or are pivotally mounted, andaccordingly by pivoting the drilling and filling tools, it is possibleto reduce the pivotal movement that would normally be imparted to theworkholder, for example, when drilling holes or inserting tufts atextreme angular positions in the brush stock. Further, a combinedrelative pivoting movement will be possible which will, in certaincases, enable the said angle to be increase-d beyond what would normallybe possible by pivoting only the workholder.

To enable the invention to be fully understood, it will now bedescribed, by way of example, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of apparatus according to one embodiment of theinvention;

FIGURE 2 is an end view thereof; and

FIGURE 3 is a plan view; and

FIGURE 4 is a section on line AA of FIGURE 1 on an enlarged scale.

As shown in the accompanying drawings, the apparatus comprises a base 1supporting vertically extending bearings 2 in which pillars 3 areslidably mounted, the latter supporting the horizontally extending crossbeam 4.

A runner 5 is provided at each end of the cross beam and which serves tosupport a slide 6. Pairs of support plates 7, 8 extend upwardly of theslides 6, the plates having apertures 7a, 8a respectively at verticallyspaced intervals, a pivot pin 7b being positioned in two alignedapertures. The plates 7 are connected at their lower ends to the slides6, and the plates 8 are connected adjacent their upper ends to crossbars 9, 9a which extend between and are attached to opposed side bars10.

The side bars 10 and cross bars 9, 9a and 11 form a cradle-like supportfor an assembly of workholders a, a b, b 0, the cradle being supportedby the plates 8 which are pivotally connected to the plates 7 so thatthe cradle is capable of pivotal movement, the degree and amount of suchmovement being varied, if desired, by positioning the pin 7b indifferent pairs of aligned apertures 7a, 8a. a

As shown more particularly in FIGURE 4, each workholder comprises a base12 and opposed side plates 13, 14. A pair of clamping jaws is providedon the base comprising a fixed jaw 15 and a movable jaw 16, the latterbeing adapted to be reciprocated relative to the jaw 15 by a piston rod17 connected with a piston operating in a cylinder 18. Fluid underpressure is normally supplied to the cylinder 18 to move the jaw 16inwardly into clamping position so that the opposed ends of a brushstock positioned on the base 12 will be clamped between the jaws 15, 16.When, however, the brush stock is to be unloaded and a new onesubstituted, the supply of fluid under pressure will be reversed to movethe jaw 16 outwardly to unclamp the brush stock and then to move itinwardly when a new brush stock is positioned on the base so as to clampit.

The side plates 13, 14 are respectively pivoted to support plates 19, 20by pivot pins 20b inserted through pairs of aligned apertures 13a, 19a,14a, 20a, the plates 13, 14 being also respectively pivoted by pins 21to arms 22. The arms 22 of the pair of workholders a, a are directlysecured to side bars 23 extending in spaced parallel relation to theside bars 10. The arms 22 of the pair of workholders b, b are connectedto a member 22a to which is attached a housing generally indicated by 24and including a guideway in which the side bars 23 are slidable. Aplunger 25 in the housing is normally urged by a spring 26 to engage oneof two notches in the member 23a attached to the side bars 23 to enablethe workholders b, b to be locked to the said sidebars. Only one ofthese two notches is shown, as 27a in FIG. 1, since the other is hiddenby the workholder. The plungers are adapted to be released from lockingengagement by supplying fluid under pressure to a cylinder 28 to actuatea piston rod 28a connected with the plunger.

Each support plate 19, 20 is secured to a guide channel 29 whichslidably receives the side bars 10.

The guide channel 29 of the pair of workholders b, b are connected to atransverse bar 30 having a depending lug 31 to which a piston rod 32 isattached. This rod is connected with a piston operating in a cylinder 33which is supported on a transverse strut 34 extending between the sidebars 10 so that by supplying fluid under pressure to the cylinder 33,the piston rod 32 will be reciprocated to slide the pair of workholdersb, b as a unit relatively to the side bars 10, 23, when the plunger 25is unlocked.

A plate 35 is supported on transversely extending bars 36 and serves tosupport a boring tool D, a filling tool F and a control point OR thelatter being adapted to cooperate in known manner with a control platemounted on the workholder c. The boring tool D is carried by a slide 37slidably mounted in guideways 38, the slide 37 being connected with apiston rod 39 of a piston mounted in the cylinder 40 such that bysupplying fluid under pressure to the cylinder, the boring tool can bemoved transversely so as to be positioned alternately over theworkholders a, a

The workholders b, b are adapted to be moved transversely so as to bealternately positioned under the filling tool F.

During the drilling and filling of a brush stock, it is necessary, whenend and/ or side spread drilling and filling is to be effected, for thebrush stock and tools to be disposed in predetermined angular relation.For this purpose the workholders are mounted to permit pivotal movementrelative to the tools as hereinbefore described.

The present invention also provides for the tools to be pivoted relativeto the workholders for effecting end spread drilling and filling effect.

As illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 3, the opposite ends of the toolsupporting bars 36 are attached to side plates 41 pivoted at 42 to sideframe members 43. One of the side plates is pivoted at 44 to a link 45which is pivotally connected to a lever 46 having a follower 47 ridingon a cam 48.

The cam 48 is continuously rotated when the machine is in operation andis contoured to impart a predetermined pivotal movement to the lever 46during a drilling and filling operation, the movement of the lever beingtransmitted'by the link 45 to the tool supporting assembly to impart apredetermined pivotal movement to the tools relative to the workholders.

The pivotal movement of the workholder assembly is controlled by a cam49 which effects the pivotal movement of a lever 50 having one endpivoted at 51 to the 'base 1, and the other end pivoted at 52 to a link53 connected through a lever 54, and a link 55 to a plate 56 secured tothe cross member 11 which extends between the side bars 10. The pivotalmovement of the lever 50 will accordingly be transmitted to the plate 56to pivot the workholder assembly about the pivot pins 7b.

It will accordingly be noted that the workholders can be pivotedrelative to the tools and that the tools can also be pivoted relative tothe workholders.

In order that the workholders may be presented in correct angularrelation to the tools when effecting end spread drilling and filling, itwill be necessary to effect a predetermined relative pivotal movementand a proportion of the total relative movement may be effected bypivoting the workholders, the remainder being effected by pivoting thetools.

Preferably the design of the earns 49, 48 is such that the workholdersare pivoted by the cam 49 to their practical limits and where extremeend spread is required or other special requirements make it necessary,the cam 48 will come into operation to pivot the tools to provideadditional relative pivotal movement. During the pivotal movement of theworkholders, a concentric part of the cam 48 will engage the follower 47on the lever 46 so that no pivotal movement will be transmitted to thetools. Further, when the tools are being pivoted by the cam 48, aconcentric part of the cam 49 will engage the follower on the lever 50so that no pivotal movement will be transmitted to the workholders.

It will he understood that the cams 48, 49 may be designed so that theproportions of the total movement effected by pivoting the workholdersand tools can be varied. Further, if desired, the workholders and toolsmay be pivoted simultaneously during a boring and drilling operation,the resultant combined pivotal movement giving the desired angularrelation for effecting the end spread drilling and filling.

The movement of the workholders when effecting upright drilling andfilling lengthwise of the brush stock and when effecting side spreadfilling is controlled by cams as described in US. Patent applicationSerial No. 324,120, now abandoned, the various cams being contoured toimpart the necessary movements to the workholders and being operated intimed relation to the operation of the machine.

The operation of the machine is as follows:

At the start of a cycle of operations, the apparatus will be in theposition indicated in FIGURE 1, and undrilled brush stocks will beclamped to the workholders a, a and pre-drilled brush stocks clamped tothe workholders b, 12 a control plate having a predetermined patternbeing mounted on the holder 0.

When the main drive of the machine is switched on the tools D, F will bereciprocated in a vertical direction relatively to the workholders andactuated in known manner so that the brush stock on the workholder awill be drilled by the tool D, and that on the workholder b filled bythe tool F, a series of predetermined pivotal movements being impartedto the tools during the drilling and filling operation to enable thedesired angular relation between the workholders and tools to beeffected for end spread during drilling and filling of the brush stocks.At the completion of the drilling and filling operation, the main poweris switched off and auxiliary power energised to supply fluid underpressure to the cylinders 28, 33, 40, so that the plunger 25 iswithdrawn from locking engagement with the notch 27, the supply of fluidpressure to the cylinder 33 extends the piston rod 32 to move the bar 30connected with the guide channels 29 of the workholders b, b from theleft to the right as viewed in FIGURE 1 of the drawing so that theseworkholders are moved transversely in a rectilinear path along the sidebars 10 until the plunger 25 automatically engages the notch 27a. Theworkholder b will now be positioned under the filling tool F.

The supply of fluid under pressure to the cylinder 40 operates toretract the piston rod 39 to slide the boring tool D transversely fromright to left as viewed in FIGURE 1 of the drawing so that the tool ismoved in a rectilinear path parallel to the plane of the brush stocksupporting faces of the workholders a, a to position the boring toolover the workholder 0. During the transverse movement of the workholdersb, b and tool D, fluid under pressure is supplied to the cylinders 18 ofworkholders a b to unclamp the brush stocks mounted thereon.

The auxiliary power is switched off and the main power switched on tostart the next drilling and filling operation, and the brush stock onthe holder a is drilled and that on the holder b filled. During thedrilling and filling operation, the filled brush stock on the holder bis unloaded and the drilled brush stock from the holder a substitutedand an undrilled brush stock loaded on to the holder al At the end ofthe drilling and filling operation, the main power is switched off andthe auxiliary power energised to supply fluid under pressure to thecylinders 28, 33, 40, but this time the supply to the cylinders 33, 40is in the reverse direction so that when the plunger 25 is released, theworkholder assembly including the workholders b,b will be moved by theretraction of the piston 32 back into the position indicated in FIGURE1, and the boring tool D will be given a sliding movement in the reversedirection back into the position indicated in FIGURE 1. It will beunderstood that at the end of this movement, the plunger 25automatically re-engages in the notch 27. During the transversemovement, fluid under pressure is supplied to the cylinders 18 so thatthe brush stocks on holders a b are clamped and those on holders a, bunclamped.

The auxiliary power is switched off and the main power switched on tostart another drilling and filling operation, to drill the brush stockon holder a and fill the brush stock on 12 and during these operationsthe filled brush stock on the holder b will be removed and a drilledbrush stock from the holder a substituted and an undrilled brush stockpositioned on the holder a.

The cycle of operations is repeated so that, apart from the unloadingand loading to the brush stocks, the apparatus operates automaticallyand continuously to drill and fill brush stocks.

It is to be understood that the pivotal mounting of the tools is notrestricted for use with the particular machine illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, but may be applied to any form of brush makingapparatus wherein it is necessary to present brush holders inpredetermined angular relation to boring and filling tools.

Further, the invention is not limited to apparatus having both boringand filling tools, but could be used with apparatus designed only todrill brush stocks or for filling predrilled brush stocks.

The axis (pivots 42) about which the tools pivot is located on animaginary line substantially coinciding with the upper face of the brushstocks when mounted on the workholders when the latter are in the normalat rest position illustrated in the drawings. Further, it will be notedthat this line lies in a vertical plane which includes the axis of thedrilling and filling tools. Accordingly, when the tools are pivoted,there will not be any linear displacement imparted to the drilling andfilling tools relative to the brush stocks.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for operating on a brush stock comprising a workholder forsupporting a brush stock, a tool for operating on one face of a brushstock supported on said workholder, means supporting said tool forpivotal movement relative to said workholder and means for imparting aseries of predetermined pivotal movements to the tool so as to vary theangular relation between the tool and the brush stock on said workholderwhile a cycle of operations are carried out by said tool, the axis aboutwhich the tool pivots being located on 'an imaginary line substantiallycoincident with the said one face of the said brush stock when mountedon the workholder and when the latter is in the at rest position.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said pivotal movementsare imparted to a tool bar on which said tool is supported.

3. Apparatus for operating on a brush stock comprising a workholder forsupporting a brush stock, means pivotally supporting said workholder, atool for performing a cycle of operations on one face of a brush stockmounted on said workholder, means supporting said tool for pivotalmovement, means for imparting a series of predetermined pivot-a1movements to said tool relative to said workholder during part of saidcycle and means for imparting a series of pivotal movements to the saidworkholder relative to said tool during another part of said cycle, theaxis about which the said tool pivots being located on an imaginary linesubstantially coincident with the said one face of the brush stock whenmounted on the workholder and when the latter is in the at res-tposition.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tool comprises a drillfor boring tuft receiving holes in the brush stock.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tool comprises afilling tool for inserting tufts of bristles into predrilled holes inthe brush stock.

6. In a brush making machine a workholder, means on said workholder forclamping a brush stock, a tool for operating on a brush stock clamped onsaid workholder, means for operating said tool to perform a cycle ofoperations on said brush stock, and means for effecting pivotal movementof said tool relative to the workhlder to enable the angular relationbetween the workholder and tool to be adjusted during the performance ofsaid cycle.

No references cited.

GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, JR., Primary Examiner.

1. APPARATUS FOR OPERATING ON A BRUSH STOCK COMPRISING A WORKHOLDER FORSUPPORTING A BRUSH STOCK, A TOOL FOR OPERATING ON ONE FACE OF A BRUSHSTOCK SUPPORTED ON SAID WORKHOLDER, MEANS SUPPORTING SAID TOOL FORPIVOTAL MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO SAID WORKHOLDER AND MEANS FOR IMPARTING ASERIES OF PREDETERMINED PIVOTAL MOVEMENTS TO THE TOOL SO AS TO VARY THEANGULAR RELATION BETWEEN THE TOOL AND THE BRUSH STOCK ON SAID WORKHOLDERWHILE A CYCLE OF OPERATIONS ARE CARRIED OUT BY SAID TOOL, THE AXIS ABOUTWHICH THE TOOL PIVOTS BEING LOCATED ON AN IMAGINARY LINE